Paramount’s WORLD WAR Z Sequel Gets a Summer 2017 Release Date

Paramount Pictures has announced the released date for the follow up to the 2013 apocalypse thriller World War Z, which starred Brad Pitt as a family man recruited to prevent the zombie apocalypse. Per Variety, World War Z 2 is set to arrive in theaters June 9th, 2017 with Pitt returning in the starring role. Despite some early bad word-of-mouth, the first film soared to $540 million worldwide, marking the biggest opening weekend of Pitt’s career.

Juan Antonia Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible) is set to direct the sequel from a script by Steven Knight (Locke, Eastern Promises). No plot details are known at this time, but earlier this year Knight commented that they’re approaching the film with a “clean slate”.

Image via Paramount Pictures

The first film wasn’t as terrible as early word predicted, but it wasn’t great either (see: mountain of zombies). However, as a huge fan of the Max Brooks‘ novel from which it was adapted, I admit to a bit of bias. Hopefully, World War Z 2 will learn from the previous film’s mistakes and take a cue from the source material, which was rich with fascinating, diverse, and cleverly constructed vignettes about survival in the zombie apocalypse. The idea of a “clean slate” definitely gives me hope, but I’m most excited by the collaboration between Bayona and Knight who both have fantastic resumes mature, engrossing films.

The World War Z sequel is slated to go head to head with Fox’s Fantastic Four sequel when it hits theaters on June 9th. What do you think? Were you pleasantly surprised by the first film? Are you hoping they change their tack with the sequel? Sound off in the comments.

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